Skip to content
Search

Latest Stories

Follow Us:
Top Stories

Carrie Underwood leads celebrity A-listers performing at Trump's second inauguration

News

Carrie Underwood leads celebrity A-listers performing at Trump's second inauguration

Carrie Underwood at Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025 held in Times Square on December 31, 2024 in New York, New York.

(Photo by John Nacion/Penske Media via Getty Images)

President-elect Donald Trump is set to be sworn into office on Monday, and this inauguration appears to have a different atmosphere compared to his first in 2017, which reportedly faced challenges in securing high-profile performers.

Several well-known artists are scheduled to participate in this year’s four days of festivities.


Here are the top five musical acts performing at inauguration events:

Carrie Underwood performs during Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with Ryan Seacrest 2025 held in Times Square on December 31, 2024 in New York, New York. (Photo by Craig T Fruchtman/WireImage)

1. Carrie Underwood

Country music star Carrie Underwood, who gained fame as the winner of "American Idol" two decades ago, is scheduled to perform "America the Beautiful" during the swearing-in ceremony.

In a statement to USA Today, Underwood expressed her gratitude for the opportunity, saying, “I love our country and am honored to have been asked to sing at the Inauguration and to be a small part of this historic event. I am humbled to answer the call at a time when we must all come together in the spirit of unity and looking to the future.”

Donald Trump with Christopher Macchio Credit: Christopher Macchio on X

2. Christopher Macchio

Classical tenor Christopher Macchio will perform the national anthem during the swearing-in ceremony.

Macchio told CBS New York he believes in the unifying power of music. "That is a primary goal of mine, to deliver a performance that can hopefully have that kind of effect and make people really proud to be a citizen of this great country," he said.

This will not be Macchio's first performance for the President-elect. He previously sang at the Republican rally at Madison Square Garden in October 2024, delivering a rendition of Frank Sinatra's "New York, New York."

Lee Greenwood performs during CMA Fest 2024 at Ascend Amphitheater on June 08, 2024 in Nashville, Tennessee. (Photo by Erika Goldring/Getty Images)

3. Lee Greenwood

Lee Greenwood, known for his Grammy-winning song "I.O.U." from 1984, is set to perform at the swearing-in ceremony and the Make America Great Again Victory Rally. Over the years, Greenwood has received five additional Grammy nominations and was prominently featured at the Republican National Convention held in Milwaukee last summer.

Greenwood will perform his hit song "God Bless the USA" during the inauguration Monday, he confirmed Wednesday on Fox News.

"I am humbled and honored to be asked to perform for our 47th President Donald J. Trump during his inaugural events," Greenwood said in a statement Wednesday to USA TODAY. "The President has been a friend of (wife Kimberly Payne) and I's for many years and this is one of the most historical moments in our lifetime. I look forward to celebrating this special day with proud Americans everywhere."

Kid Rock performs during the Republican National Convention on Thursday, July 18, 2024. (Jason Almond / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)

4. Kid Rock

Kid Rock, a vocal supporter of Trump since his first term and a performer at the Republican National Convention, is scheduled to take the stage at the Make America Great Again Victory Rally. Last summer, the Michigan singer-songwriter headlined the Rock the Country touring festival, highlighting the intersection of MAGA politics and country music.

The announcement of Rock—born Robert James Ritchie—as a performer for the concert on the eve of Trump’s inauguration was anticipated. The 54-year-old musician has been a prominent supporter of Trump since the former reality TV star-turned-politician won the presidential election in 2016.

Before the Republican primaries had even kicked off that year, Rock—born Robert James Ritchie voiced his support for the former “Apprentice” host, 78.

“I’m digging Donald Trump,” he told Rolling Stone at the time. “My feeling: Let the business guy run it like a business. And his campaign has been entertaining as s–t.”

Village People Musical group perform during the Boogietown Festival at Apps Court Farm. (Photo by Bonnie Britain/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

5. Village People

The disco band Village People, featuring surviving original member Victor Willis, is set to perform at two events: the Make America Great Again Victory Rally and the Liberty Ball. Their 1978 hit "Y.M.C.A." became a popular fixture at Trump's campaign rallies, even inspiring a viral dance.

In a Facebook post, Willis, who wrote the song's lyrics, noted that the campaign's use of the song significantly increased its popularity, helping it reach the top of the Billboard dance digital song sales chart.

"We know this won't make some of you happy to hear however we believe that music is to be performed without regard to politics," a statement posted to both Willis' and the group's official pages reads. "Our song Y.M.C.A. is a global anthem that hopefully helps bring the country together after a tumultuous and divided campaign where our preferred candidate lost.

Nearly 15 performers are expected to headline the many inauguration celebrations.

Hugo Balta is the executive editor of the Fulcrum, and the publisher of the Latino News Network.


Read More

Amid Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, Immigrant Mothers Carry a Weight

Pregnant asylum-seeker Yaoska, 32, comforts her two-year-old son who was not feeling well, inside a motel room where she and her children are living after her husband was deported to Nicaragua.

(AP Photo/Rebecca Blackwell)

Amid Trump’s Immigration Crackdown, Immigrant Mothers Carry a Weight

For Kimberly Alvarez, memories of federal agents whisking her husband away at 26 Federal Plaza last fall come back in jarring flashes.

The couple had just finished their first court appearance as asylum seekers from Venezuela when immigration agents arrested him, then turned to her and simply said, “you can leave.” She remembers the chaos, the confusion, how no one would answer where her husband was being taken.

Keep ReadingShow less
This 3D rendered image shows a central AI processing chip sitting atop a glowing blue printed circuit board.

Can AI profit-sharing help workers? Examining public wealth funds, AI taxes, economic transition policies, and the future of work.

Jason marz / Getty Images

There’s No Easy Path Through the AI Transition

“Trending” policy ideas tend to garner attention for all the wrong reasons: they seem like silver bullet solutions that will save us from taking on much harder reforms. Proposals to share profits from leading AI companies with the public are the latest example. It’s the rare policy scheme that seems to have united President Donald Trump, Senator Bernie Sanders, and CEOs at the leading AI labs. While the proposals for AI profit sharing vary in their precise details, a quick review of their likely outcomes should quickly deflate the popular excitement that has formed in response to calls for new taxes, public wealth funds, and the like. It’s important to reveal such limitations so that the AI policy discourse can move on to mechanisms more likely to address the real concerns of the American people.

In our first hypothetical world, the two leading AI labs—Anthropic and OpenAI—give away 3% of their equity. That’s not nothing! Based on current figures, such a contribution could kickstart a public wealth fund of about $55 billion. Let’s then imagine that fund earns 10% a year (a big “if” but let’s run with it). Per The Economist, this AI would reach a staggering $140 billion within ten years. How much would that benefit Americans? If annual payouts were 4% — what the publication reports is a proper amount to keep the fund going and growing — Americans would have an extra $20 in their pocket.

Keep ReadingShow less
A Hollow Song for a Hollow Patriotism: Reclaiming the Real Patriotic Ballads
Imagine a democracy concert followed by a yearlong democracy call to action roadshow—designed to build a new civic movement
Getty Images, gilaxia

A Hollow Song for a Hollow Patriotism: Reclaiming the Real Patriotic Ballads

After musician after musician pulled out from Trump’s June 24 “Freedom 250” concert, we’re left with Lee Greenwood and an opera tenor. The anthem that made Greenwood a star, “God Bless the USA,” was written in 1985 during the height of the Cold War. It begins with the specter of loss—“If tomorrow—all the things were gone, I’d worked for all my life / And I had to start all over with my children and my wife.” Then the wounds disappear before they’re felt: “I’d thank my lucky stars to be living here today / Because the flag still stands for freedom and they can’t take that away.”

Ronald Reagan made the song his campaign theme while launching a new age of American inequality by systematically busting unions and cutting taxes for the wealthiest. Greenwood treats layoffs and the resulting toll on ordinary lives as a mere inconvenience. As the refrain shifts from violins and a church organ to a military march, he repeats, “I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free / And I won’t forget the men who died who gave that right to me.”

Keep ReadingShow less
A Night at Chase Field Revealed a Different America

Mexican Heritage Night, June 4, 2026

A Night at Chase Field Revealed a Different America

I didn’t love seeing the charge for the baseball tickets hit my credit card. Like Americans, I’ve watched expenses and discretionary costs rise. A night at the ballpark felt like a luxury rather than a routine outing. Still, I wanted time with my two grandsons—one a devoted Los Angeles Dodgers fan, the other a loyal Arizona Diamondbacks fan.

That alone promised an interesting evening.

Keep ReadingShow less